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In the past I used to post the occasional "underwater urbex" 
in here for a bit of variety. I covered several locations like Bikini Atoll (where our septic friends tested A Bombs) the Philippines, Cyprus and Malta. Recently I was mooching through some of my photos which resulted in me doing a spot of research into a ditched Bristol Blenheim light bomber located 100 yards or so off shore near Xrobb il-Ghagin, Malta.
The story goes like this...
Saturday 13th. December, 1941 - Five Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVs from 18 Squadron took off from Luqa (now Malta International Airport) to attack enemy shipping at Argostoli near the Greek island of Keffallonia.
View attachment 524538
A Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV light bomber of the type flown by the crew in this story...
The raid did not go well with no targets located that were worth attacking so the flight turned back to Malta, only to be jumped by Axis fighters. The Blenheims dropped to low level and ran. Of the five aircraft four got back to Malta relatively unscathed but the fifth, Z7858, ran into further trouble with an Italian Macchi fighter.
Italian Macchi 202 fighter like the one which attacked the Blenheim. Often confused with the German ME 109F...
The wireless operator/air gunner Sgt. Dennis Mortimer was unable to engage the fighter from the Blenheim's dorsal gun turret due to a jam in the rotation gear so the Macchi repeatedly attacked from the Blenheim's six and did a serious number on the port engine. A bullet or possibly a fragment of shrapnel hit the pilot Sgt. Frank Jury in the head causing a nasty gash although it could have been much worse because Frank was in the habit of wearing a standard issue British "battle bowler" steel helmet whilst on operations which undoubtedly saved his life. The propeller was violently flung off the damaged port engine and thick, black smoke was pouring out, so having already dropped to less than 100 feet from the wave tops the crew now jettisoned all they could to lighten the stricken aircraft, even their parachutes, and continued back towards Malta with the Macchi in hot pursuit. How the Italian fighter pilot failed to down the Blenheim will forever remain a mystery but he eventually broke off and turned back to his base in southern Sicily.
Things now took the sort of turn you simply cannot script. The Blenheim, with just one engine and running practically on fumes, eventually reached Luqa where to the crew's dismay they found they could not lower the landing gear due to the damage inflicted in the fight with the Macchi. So they reluctantly lined up for a "gear up" belly landing only to be forced to abort at the last minute by a lumbering Wellington medium bomber which taxied out in front of them. Anyone familiar with Malta will know that it is one huge lump of rock with zero flat areas safe to land upon anywhere on the island other than the airfields - even the furrows in the ploughed fields are more rock than soil. Faced with no realistic possibility of a second run at Luqu Frank opted instead to chance ditching in the sea where at least they would not run into one of the numerous stone walls, notorious for killing pilots in forced landings, which liberally dot the island.
Just an aside at this point - the Wellington taxing out and preventing their landing on the Luqa runway was almost certainly a deliberate move instigated to prevent the Blenheim doing a wheels up and blocking the runway for further operations. What could be perceived as an unfortunate accident was in all probability a rather callous but eminently practical decision from the station commander!
They glided over Valletta and the Grand Harbour then turned to starboard where they spotted a small Maltese dghajsa (fishing boat) just off shore. The Blenheim descended slowly and touched down tail first - a perfect "ditch", but even so the shock of the water violently pulling the plane up short threw Sgt. Black against the cockpit front and he was knocked unconscious. Despite the hammering it had taken, both in the fight and the landing, the Blenheim stayed afloat on an even keel long enough for Black to be brought round and for them all to escape safely. Jury and Black managed to stay on the port wing and remain dry; a good thing because the Med in December can be VERY cold as I can personally attest! However poor Sgt. Mortimer slipped off and took an early bath, much to his dismay. But all three of them made it safely on board the dghajsa and they set off for land passing an RAF air sea rescue launch on the way. The launch attempted to take the Blenheim in tow but it was too much for the battered old bird and she rapidly sank in 42 metres of water. The crew fared much better than their aeroplane - after R & R they continued their duties and I believe they all survived the war.
Today the Blenheim wreck is pretty close to the maximum depth limit for Sports SCUBA divers using air but she is a great dive if you are qualified and skilled in the use of rebreathers. When we dived her, albeit it a good few years ago now, much of the wreck was still relatively intact despite the highly corrodable material the skin of such aircraft is constructed from. Her tail is buried in the silt and the cockpit is smashed off completely above foot level. The dorsal gun turret with it's twin Browning .303 machine guns has also gone following salvage. But the pilot's control joystick/yoke was still in place as is the "rear view mirror" which the pilot employed to see what was coming up from behind - crude but effective!
Starboard wing with intact engine and prop - the good one!
The prop blades are badly bent following impact with the sea as the plane ditched...
The fuselage skin is badly corroded now...
The pilot's rear view mirror in what is left of the cockpit...
The port engine was badly damaged by the Italian Macchi fighter during the attack. She threw her propeller off and the engine caught fire, although luckily the fire did not spread.
The better looking half of "TeeJF".
The lardy half of "TeeJF"!
TJ is rummaging around inside the wing beneath the skin which has corroded away after more than half a century of exposure to the corrosive Med salt water.
in here for a bit of variety. I covered several locations like Bikini Atoll (where our septic friends tested A Bombs) the Philippines, Cyprus and Malta. Recently I was mooching through some of my photos which resulted in me doing a spot of research into a ditched Bristol Blenheim light bomber located 100 yards or so off shore near Xrobb il-Ghagin, Malta.The story goes like this...
Saturday 13th. December, 1941 - Five Bristol Blenheim Mk. IVs from 18 Squadron took off from Luqa (now Malta International Airport) to attack enemy shipping at Argostoli near the Greek island of Keffallonia.
View attachment 524538
A Bristol Blenheim Mk. IV light bomber of the type flown by the crew in this story...
The raid did not go well with no targets located that were worth attacking so the flight turned back to Malta, only to be jumped by Axis fighters. The Blenheims dropped to low level and ran. Of the five aircraft four got back to Malta relatively unscathed but the fifth, Z7858, ran into further trouble with an Italian Macchi fighter.
Italian Macchi 202 fighter like the one which attacked the Blenheim. Often confused with the German ME 109F...
The wireless operator/air gunner Sgt. Dennis Mortimer was unable to engage the fighter from the Blenheim's dorsal gun turret due to a jam in the rotation gear so the Macchi repeatedly attacked from the Blenheim's six and did a serious number on the port engine. A bullet or possibly a fragment of shrapnel hit the pilot Sgt. Frank Jury in the head causing a nasty gash although it could have been much worse because Frank was in the habit of wearing a standard issue British "battle bowler" steel helmet whilst on operations which undoubtedly saved his life. The propeller was violently flung off the damaged port engine and thick, black smoke was pouring out, so having already dropped to less than 100 feet from the wave tops the crew now jettisoned all they could to lighten the stricken aircraft, even their parachutes, and continued back towards Malta with the Macchi in hot pursuit. How the Italian fighter pilot failed to down the Blenheim will forever remain a mystery but he eventually broke off and turned back to his base in southern Sicily.
Things now took the sort of turn you simply cannot script. The Blenheim, with just one engine and running practically on fumes, eventually reached Luqa where to the crew's dismay they found they could not lower the landing gear due to the damage inflicted in the fight with the Macchi. So they reluctantly lined up for a "gear up" belly landing only to be forced to abort at the last minute by a lumbering Wellington medium bomber which taxied out in front of them. Anyone familiar with Malta will know that it is one huge lump of rock with zero flat areas safe to land upon anywhere on the island other than the airfields - even the furrows in the ploughed fields are more rock than soil. Faced with no realistic possibility of a second run at Luqu Frank opted instead to chance ditching in the sea where at least they would not run into one of the numerous stone walls, notorious for killing pilots in forced landings, which liberally dot the island.
Just an aside at this point - the Wellington taxing out and preventing their landing on the Luqa runway was almost certainly a deliberate move instigated to prevent the Blenheim doing a wheels up and blocking the runway for further operations. What could be perceived as an unfortunate accident was in all probability a rather callous but eminently practical decision from the station commander!
They glided over Valletta and the Grand Harbour then turned to starboard where they spotted a small Maltese dghajsa (fishing boat) just off shore. The Blenheim descended slowly and touched down tail first - a perfect "ditch", but even so the shock of the water violently pulling the plane up short threw Sgt. Black against the cockpit front and he was knocked unconscious. Despite the hammering it had taken, both in the fight and the landing, the Blenheim stayed afloat on an even keel long enough for Black to be brought round and for them all to escape safely. Jury and Black managed to stay on the port wing and remain dry; a good thing because the Med in December can be VERY cold as I can personally attest! However poor Sgt. Mortimer slipped off and took an early bath, much to his dismay. But all three of them made it safely on board the dghajsa and they set off for land passing an RAF air sea rescue launch on the way. The launch attempted to take the Blenheim in tow but it was too much for the battered old bird and she rapidly sank in 42 metres of water. The crew fared much better than their aeroplane - after R & R they continued their duties and I believe they all survived the war.
Today the Blenheim wreck is pretty close to the maximum depth limit for Sports SCUBA divers using air but she is a great dive if you are qualified and skilled in the use of rebreathers. When we dived her, albeit it a good few years ago now, much of the wreck was still relatively intact despite the highly corrodable material the skin of such aircraft is constructed from. Her tail is buried in the silt and the cockpit is smashed off completely above foot level. The dorsal gun turret with it's twin Browning .303 machine guns has also gone following salvage. But the pilot's control joystick/yoke was still in place as is the "rear view mirror" which the pilot employed to see what was coming up from behind - crude but effective!
Starboard wing with intact engine and prop - the good one!
The prop blades are badly bent following impact with the sea as the plane ditched...
The fuselage skin is badly corroded now...
The pilot's rear view mirror in what is left of the cockpit...
The port engine was badly damaged by the Italian Macchi fighter during the attack. She threw her propeller off and the engine caught fire, although luckily the fire did not spread.
The better looking half of "TeeJF".
The lardy half of "TeeJF"!
TJ is rummaging around inside the wing beneath the skin which has corroded away after more than half a century of exposure to the corrosive Med salt water.
That's All Folks...
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